


Girl with a Dream

by lethalsouffle



Series: How Long it Takes [1]
Category: Bob's Burgers (Cartoon)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Band Fic, Best Friends, Friends to Lovers, Gene is in 12th grade, Girl Band, High School, Louise is in 10th grade, M/M, Slow Burn, Zeke graduated 2 years ago, background Alex/Courtney, not that slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:34:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23299402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lethalsouffle/pseuds/lethalsouffle
Summary: Gene and Zeke have been close for a few years and over this time, the former has developed a crush. His buddies in the band Girl with a Dream bug him about this relationship though nothing has come of it.(Gene is 16/17 and in 12th grade, Zeke is 19 and working at Jimmy Pesto's)
Relationships: Gene Belcher/Zeke (Bob's Burgers)
Series: How Long it Takes [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1724203
Comments: 7
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

Gene and Louise walked beside each other to Huxley High, in total silence, one earbud each, the wire hanging between them. Louise can feel the drumsticks in her back pocket and the phantom energy of the beats she makes with them thrums through her body. The handwritten words scrawled and smudged and illegible on Gene’s left forearm the future lyrics of his songs alive, somehow, with the desperate liveliness as he discovers ways to say the things he needs said.

The song subsides and, after a few seconds of silence, begins again. Louise pulls the earbud out of her ear, ripping her brother’s out as well.

“Gene, this is the best one yet!”

“Yeah? You think so?” Gene unplugs the earbuds from his phone, wrapping them around his hand and placing the coil into his pocket.

“Yeah, dude! Girl with a Dream is going places!”

“I think the melody could be a bit stronger. The piano feels a little high to me.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, G.” He sighs as they cross the street toward Huxley’s front doors. “Come on, it’s great. We’ll show it to RSR and Papasian and Courtney and then you’ll love it because they’ll love it. You always get like this with a new mix and it’s always so good, Gene, you just don’t see it yet.”

“Fine.” He pulls his phone out of his pocket and unlocks it. Going to the messaging app, he opens his conversation with Zeke.

_I’ve got a new song I wanna show you._

“Texting your boyfriend?”

“It’s not like that, Lou.”

“Whatever. I’m gonna go find Rudy before class, the band still meeting up at lunch to listen to the new mix?”

“Uh, yeah, probably. I’ll check with Papasian and Court and text you.”

“Ok, see ya later, G.” Gene nods as Louise disappears into the crowds of high schoolers in the halls and focuses his attention back to his phone. A text from Zeke.

_hell yeah. 6? I’ll meet u at the restaurant?_ Gene types out an affirmative and beelines for Papasian’s locker where Courtney will almost definitely be.

Gene rounds the corner toward homeroom, seeing Papasian and Courtney standing beside each other, chatting. “PAPASIAN!!” Gene hollers down the corridor. Alex looks up, mildly embarrassed but still laughing wildly. He mouths “shut the fuck up, dude” which is, somehow, discernible through the crowd of people frantically opening their lockers and pulling out textbooks.

“What’s up, man?”

“I don’t know, Gene, why do you have to yell down the hallway at me every day?”

He shrugs. “Fun? Add a little chaos to your day?”

“It is fun.” Courtney nods along with Gene. “Anyway,” Gene begins to fiddle with the lock on his locker, beside Papasian’s. “Is that new mix done?”

“Uh,” he flubs the last number and has to start over, rapidly spinning the lock several times “yeah. Lou and I thought we’d listen at lunch, with RSR.” The locker clicks open and Gene looks toward the other two. “If you guys’re cool with that, I mean.”

“Yeah, of course.” Alex closes his locker and leans against it. “It better be good, Gene.”

Courtney laughs breathily, playing with the gold heart locket around her neck. “As if he’s ever let us down.”

“Ha ha, yeah…” Gene pulls a binder and a couple notebooks out of his locker, checking that there are pens in the front pocket of his jeans. “Uh, we should get to homeroom, right?”

“Before first bell? Who are you?” Alex adjusts his glasses.

“Gene. And I’m tired of being yelled at by Jackson.”

“Ugh, fine.” He rolls his eyes, pulling his other backpack strap on.

“We’ll catch up with you later, Court.”

“Yeah, totally. Alright, see you guys at lunch.” She walks a couple doors down to her homeroom.

“Fuck, man, I’m so tired.” Gene relaxes down into one of the desks of their homeroom. “That mix last night took forever.” He wipes a hand down his face, feeling the fatigue under his eyes, before leaning on his elbow.

“That good, hey?” Alex smiles.

“I know you’re joking but damn do I hate that joke. I’m gonna let you guys down sooner or later, Papasian.”

He sighs. “Dude, you won’t let us down. And it’s because you’re good at this even if you don’t always see it.” The bell rings. “I don’t care if you don’t believe in yourself, dude. And I bet that mix is gonna bang.”

Gene checks his phone again, compulsively.

_wait. what are we doing for ur bday tomorrow?_ He smiles a bit.

_idk, Z. what do you wanna do?_

Without an even 30 second wait, _G, it’s ur bday. it’s ur choice._

_fine. I’ll get back to you._

“Who’re you texting?”

Gene’s eyes are glued to the screen, waiting for a response despite offering very little to respond to. “Uh, no one.” He pulls his eyes away, locking his phone as he does so.

“Ah.” Alex gives Gene a look, eyebrows cocked. “How’s he doing?”

“Who?”

“Gene, you two hang out all the time, with and without us, and it’s not like we don’t notice how you interact.” Alex smiles. “You don’t need to hide it.”

“Why does everyone know?” Gene is defeated, fidgeting his phone in his hands. “Louise was harassing me about it on the way in. And now this…”

“You like him, that’s okay.”

“Am I that bad at hiding it?”

Alex snickers. “Dude, there’s a reason we aren’t in drama club.”

“I could be! And I’d be damn good!”

“Belcher! Papasian! Quiet! This is homeroom, not a wrestling match!”

“When were you gonna tell me Jackson walked in?” Alex, still turned away from the front of the room, dead-eyes Gene.

“Papasian!”

Innocently, he turns around. “Yes, Jackson?”

* * *

_ok, I’ve figured it out._

After third period—biology—Gene headed to the cafeteria, collecting Papasian and Courtney on his way to meet up with Rudy and Louise. As always, they found themselves in the corner of the cafeteria, away from the bulk of the student body.

“Let’s hear that song, Piano Man!”

“Rudy, I’ve told you, it’s not gonna catch on.” Louise slams her bag down on the bench before also slamming her tray down on the table. “Let it go, man.” They sit beside each other, opposite the other three.

“Uh, yeah, okay.” Gene pulls his phone out again, and again he looks to see if Zeke has blessed him with a response. “Just let me pull it up.”

The gang listens to the song closely, individually, through headphones. There is a silence that comes over the group throughout the entire experience. The bubble of anxiety rises up from Gene’s stomach as no one is speaking and, despite the noise of the students behind him, he can hear his heart beating.

Finally, Alex’s listen-through completes. No one says anything.

“So?” Gene can’t take it.

The others make silent eye contact with each other, Louise smiling at Gene throughout it. Alex, of course, breaks the tension.

“Dude.” Gene turns to look at him. “You’ve outdone yourself.”

“Yeah, Gene, that was totally _awesome_!” Courtney starts singing the chorus, just jamming out a cappella.

“Piano Man? That was a jam. Girl with a Dream has a hit! An original hit!”

“You guys mean it?”

“Of course they do, Gene! It’s great! You did amazing!” Louise is ready to vault over the table and fight Gene over his total lack of self-confidence.

“Thanks, guys. I mean it’s all of you, too.”

“That’s the last one, right? That’s the sixth single for the EP?” Papasian has cracked open his bottle of Vitamin Water, he now takes a swig from the bottle.

“Yeah. It’s just titles and stuff that we need to figure out and then we can release it.” He takes a final glance at his phone before putting it in his pocket. No reply.

“I’m on it!” Courtney’s face scrunches into thought as she puts the six completed songs on and puts headphones over her ears. Her head sways and undulates as she listens, eyes closed.


	2. Chapter 2

_ok. I’ve figured it out._

* * *

_sorry, lunch rush. on break for a while now. what’s the plan?_

It was two by the time Gene had a response from Zeke. He knows in his mind that Zeke had an entirely understandable explanation for not responding right away; he is at work, Jimmy Pesto’s is busy, understood. It still hurts.

_Banjo. All night. My place._

Gene was texting in English class, Alex, in the desk beside him, looking over every minute or two. Gene did not look up once during the hour-long period.

_I’m in, man!_

_who else is coming?_

A double text.

_Haven’t invited anyone else yet, do you want me to?_

_just us would be good too_

Gene’s heart was beating fast, he felt his face getting hotter.

_Ok. We’re still on for tonight, right?_

_of course, GB. can’t wait for the new tune!_

He smiles, the bell rings, Courtney meets up with them in the hall.

“So,” she says, fingers playing with her locket, “what’s the plan for tonight?” They head the 10 feet to their lockers, dropping of textbooks and binders and notebooks.

“Gene’s got a date.”

“Congrats, Gene! With—”

“I do not. I’m meeting up with a friend—”

“—Zeke.” She finishes.

“Papasian, you’re such a snitch. I’m just showing him the new song.” He slams his locker closed, pulling on it after to make sure it’s locked.

“Cool, why not send it to him? It’s not that big a file.”

“It’s not like that. I just don’t want the song to leak.” Okay, immediately, Gene is aware that that is a stretch even by his own standards.

“Oh, yeah, cause a band that’s never released an original song before is gonna have tons of people just waiting to leak their music.” Papasian closes his locker, leaning a shoulder against it to face Gene.

“You never know.” Courtney is attempting to be supportive.

They begin walking out of the school, silently.

“Oh! I know!” Courtney says too loudly.

“Jesus, Court, what? You’re gonna give me a heart attack.” Papasian grasps at his chest and fakes catching his breath dramatically.

“We could do a double date—I mean not date, hangout as four friends including one couple which is me and also Alex.”

“Tonight?”

“Why not, Gene? Hangout as four of us, platonically.” The look on Gene’s face could only be described as the end of the fuse.

“Look Alex, I love you. We’ve been very close for—what?—six years? And I’m very supportive of your relationship with Courtney but—”

“Just say it and I’ll leave you alone about it. Just admit it.” Alex stops walking and looks Gene straight in the face. “I’ll stop bothering you about it if you just admit it, Gene. I’ll get Louise to stop bugging you, too. Just say it.”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you, Alex! Leave it alone! God!” He storms off, putting his headphones over his ears and pressing play on whatever was playing last. Lost in his thoughts, Gene walks all the way home without even processing what was playing.

* * *

He heads upstairs, to the apartment, and throws his backpack on his floor before scrunching in on himself on top of his unmade bed. He puts his hands on his head and applies too much pressure just to feel tension release from his hands or his skull or somewhere.

Gene hears someone—likely Louise—enter the apartment, creaking on every old, worn step up to the second floor.

“Why didn’t you walk home with me, Gene?” She calls, keeping a distance between the two of them because she knows how he gets some days, and she knows how little sleep he got the previous night. “I took Rudy blocks out of his way!”

“I don’t wanna talk about it, Lou!”

“What did he say?”

“Oh my god! I don’t even talk to Zeke that much!”

She leans into his doorway, where he forgot to slam a door. “Man… I was talking about Alex but, okay, let’s talk about Zeke. That’s much better.”

“Fine, I like him. But… I don’t know, it’s complicated, you know?” He rolls open to look at her, feeling his face get hot with embarrassment? Is that what it’s called? No matter its name, Gene has never experienced it before. “I guess you wouldn’t know. Uh, like, I don’t know that he’s even, you know…”

“Gay?”

“Or bi or pan or queer or whatever. I don’t know that he could ever even be into me. I can’t tell him I like him. I can’t put that on him.” He smiles sadly, the tears forming in his eyes betraying the expression. “We’re really good as friends and I don’t wanna fuck that up for something that is so unknown right now.”

Louise just nods, her demeanor having instantly changed. “I’ll get Papasian to lay off, okay?”

“No, it’s… I’ll talk to him. This is my fight, Lou.”

She kind of laughs, breathily, and nods. “Okay, Gene. I think Mom and Dad want us down in the restaurant like ten minutes ago though, so we should probably go down there.”

“Yeah. I, uh, I’ll be down in a minute.” He scrunches back up into himself, balling his fists and silently screaming, eyes closed. Feeling his muscles tighten and his creases go slightly red somehow makes him feel better until he relaxes and the frustration comes back.

Filling his lungs with oxygen, Gene opens his eyes, then breathes out calmly. He gets to the edge of the bed and sits there for too long, staring at the carpet beneath his shoes. “Okay.” He whispers, the word mostly air in his mouth, coming from deep inside of him. He gets up and goes down into the restaurant below.

* * *

Gene’s shift at the restaurant is standard and horrible. He’s been working the kitchen since he turned 13 but still prefers to take orders and deal with the customers. As much as he’s changed in 6 years, Gene is still Gene. Louise was mostly clearing off tables and cleaning dishes. No longer actual children, the two of them actually did some good work at Bob’s Burgers and, after business started picking up some, their parents started compensating them somewhat. It wasn’t much but it was enough for Gene to get his mixing equipment, and to go to Wonder Wharf every week with Zeke.

“Oh, hey, uh… Dad.”

“Yeah? Gene? What is it?” Bob is sweating over the grill and he looks to Gene through the pass. Gene tears a piece of his small notebook out and places it there.

“Uh, I kinda forgot to mention this earlier and, I swear, I meant to. But I have to go soon. I’m meeting someone at 6 at the Wharf.”

“Gene, no. We need you to help out at the restaurant. It’s—” he looks to the clock down the galley “—5:40 already, you can’t just leave in 20 minutes.”

“Please?”

“You made a commitment working here, Gene.”

“I make a commitment to them as well. That I’d meet them at 6.”

“Gene, you do this every week.” Bob drops the spatula onto the flat top.

“Then you should know, every week, that it’ll happen.”

“And you should know, every week, to ask before 5:40, Gene! I can’t just let you go! How are you gonna make up time? We close at 7, that’s an hour of work to make up.”

“I don’t—”

“If you come back and mop up, run the dishwasher, clean the surfaces, then fine.” Bob has moved to be directly in front of the pass, staring directly at Gene.

“Whatever, sure. If that’s what it takes.”

“Great.”

“Awesome.”

“Perfect.” He moves back to the grill, feeling burning heat on his face.

“And just so you know, Dad. I’m gonna need 6 onwards off every Thursday from now on.” He walks away from the pass to wipe down recently vacated tables.

“Fine!”

“Great, thanks!”

“No problem, son!”

“Thanks, Dad! I love you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, I am very sorry that this is like a month later but it happens. especially in self-isolation. I will try to do better but tbh I write when I have ideas and that's mostly what I go with.
> 
> it'll probably just be updated every two weeks from now on but I'm gonna try to get ahead right now so I might post more to make up for the month with no update. (I'm also gonna plan out the rest of the chapters as it'll prob be a collection going through Gene and Zeke's relationship and I have plans there so idk how many chapters this one will be) :)
> 
> **also, chapters are gonna be at least 1000-1500 wds each. that I am committed to. because of how short the chapters are, I may also post more frequently. again, I'll update y'all as I decide things/write more.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, sorry, I meant to post this last week and it took me like forever to finish. let me know how you guys like it! <3

Gene watches Zeke exit Jimmy Pesto’s from across the street, behind the glass of his father’s restaurant. It is 6:10, both later and earlier than usual. Half the time, Zeke picks up an extra half hour or two, but then, the other half, he’s out at 6:01. Zeke waits across the street, looking straight ahead, through the window of Bob’s Burgers.

“Dad, I’m leaving!” Gene unties his apron and throws it under the back counter before swiftly skirting around it and leaving with the ring of the door’s chime.

“Alright, be home by—”

“Bob, honey, he’s already gone.”

“Yeah, okay.” He places a plate containing a burger and fries onto the pass. “Can you give this to table 5, Lin?”

* * *

Gene crosses the street, seeing no headlights headed his way, and walks up to Zeke who has had eye contact with Gene since he got on the sidewalk outside Bob’s.

“Hey, there, boy.” He smiles out of the side of his mouth, the words rolling around his tongue. “How’d you like to take a trip down the wharf with me?”

“That would be fun.” Gene smiles through his words. “Especially considering that’s what we planned to do.”

“You’re no fun, Gene. Never play along.” Zeke wraps an arm around his neck, as if to noogie the younger boy, pulling him walking toward Wonder Wharf.

“And yet you keep trying it.”

“I keep hoping just one time you’ll say yes to my advances, Gene.” His face slightly blushes, uncomfortable with his own joke.

“Only if you pay.” Zeke smiles, his face lighting up yet turning redder.

“Don’t worry, Geebee, I’ll treat you like a high-class lady. I promise you that.”

“All dresses and carriage rides and masquerade balls?” He bats his eyelashes and puts on a southern belle accent. “Oh, I do say, good sir, that would be lovely.”

Zeke laughs, his nose crinkling up and his eyes shutting entirely, and drops the bit and the pretense. “What’s the song called? I’m excited to hear it.”

“Now who doesn’t play along?” He looks into Zeke’s eyes as they walk Ocean Avenue. They walked silently for a while, Gene having forgotten Zeke’s question in his teasing. “Oh, fuck. You asked me a question.” He searches his brain for it but all hope is gone. “What did you ask me again?”

“The title of your damn song.”

“Oh, Courtney’s the title one. She’s working on the titles right now probably.”

“Mm.” Zeke nods in ambivalent agreement. “What was your working title for it? Like what did you save the files as when you were editing ‘em? Cause I know my Geebee had a name for it that’ll never see the light of day.”

Now, they reach the entrance arch to Wonder Wharf. Passing through, Gene glances toward the ticket booths which they have no need for. Entrance is free and they come often enough that they just put $50 down every few months for rides. The two exclusively go on the Ferris wheel, it gives them a chance to talk away from people, and it allows them enough time that they aren’t interrupted by the ride ending every 40 seconds.

“Yeah.” Gene smiles. Zeke knows him so well, better than anyone else, and even though he didn’t say it just now, Gene knows that Zeke probably understands how important these songs are to him, including their titles. Z probably knows the upset Gene would experience if the titles are wildly different than those he came up with. “It’s, uh… it’s called ‘Ferris Wheel’ in my files. I don’t know why, just felt right.”

“I like that. Ferris Wheel. What’s the song about?”

Gene turns red—because of the song’s actual subject, Zeke, or because he’s talking about his work that he pours his heart into daily. He forces a laugh. “Why can’t you ever just listen to the music? You always have to ask me these questions before listening.” They head to the back of the wharf, past the fishing and bottle games, to get to the Ferris wheel.

“Hey, Mickey.” Zeke hands him ten tickets at the base of the ride.

“Hey, guys. Was wondering when you’d show up.”

“Five rides?”

Mickey nods in response, allowing them to pass and load onto the Ferris wheel as it slows to a halt. Most of the seats are empty and those that aren’t hold young couples, 25 at most, who are watching the dark sea and the low lights of the darkening sky.

After they load on, Mickey slams the bar across them, forcing them to push even closer together. The entire left side of Gene’s body touching the right side of Zeke’s.

“Alright, have fun, you two!” He walks back to his little ticket and operation station and hits a button. The wheel lurches to movement, the boys going slowly backwards.

They sit in silence for the first half of the first rotation, until they crest the top, the sea and boardwalk becoming visible below. “Kinda funny” Zeke breaks “that we’re gonna listen to a song called Ferris Wheel on a Ferris wheel. Innit?”

“Heh, yeah. I guess.” Gene bites his lip nervously, staring at his hands fumbling with his phone and the headphones. “Uh, here.” He passes the earbuds to Zeke who puts them in and closes his eyes slowly and carefully.

Gene presses play on the song and watches Zeke’s face as the music plays, still somewhat audible from the volume. Gene notices the other boy’s lips opening and closing arbitrarily and then, after the chorus has played through once, along with the words. Zeke’s right arm moves to grasp the ride’s handlebar, pulling away from Gene’s side. He misses his heat, immediately, though his eyes now rest on Zeke’s hands. The scars and burns from his work are delicate and subtle on his fingers which are now tapping the metal with Rudy’s beat. The music fades and Gene hears that it is finished but Zeke’s eyes do not open, his hands do not stop drumming quietly.

“That was good.” His eyes still don’t open. “Gene, that was good.” Zeke turns to him, pulling the earbuds out and forcing eye contact. “Gene. It was so good.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, why? Did they hate it?” Zeke looks ready to physically fight anyone that disapproves of the song.

“No, it’s just… I don’t know, I guess I just wanted your opinion?” Gene is red and Zeke is smiling. Zeke looks forward, pensively, as if he’s looking for the right words.

“Hey, Gene, I wanted to tell you something.” His hands are playing with the cord of the earbuds passively.

“Take your time.”

“You’re always so nice to me. Well, mostly.”

“Rude.”

“It’s true. Anyway… I know you’ve been, you know, _out_ for a while now. And maybe you’ve gotten, like, vibes or something? But I wanted to tell you something. I just thought you should be the first one to know, Geebee. Um, I’m bi.”

“Sweet, Zeke. I’m happy for you.”

“You’re not like weirded out?”

“Z, I am queer. I could never be weirded out by a coming out.” He laughs, placing a hand just above Zeke’s knee. “I gotta ask though, why did you want me to be the first to know?”

“Uh, I don’t know I guess you’re my best friend or something? Other than J-Ju, ‘course.” His eyes widen, realizing what he said. “No offense.”

“None taken. You’re not my best friend either, no offense.”

“None taken.” He sighs. “You know, I guess it’s cause you’re queer, in part. Like, I’m gonna tell J-Ju—of course—but, I don’t know, I don’t think he’ll get it fully. Like, I can’t tell my family, I can’t tell my coworkers, I can’t tell my best friend. So I’ll tell one of my favourite people, Gene.” They smile at each other.

“Wait, go back. Why can’t you tell your family?”

“Ugh.” He squints into the distance. “They’re from the south, you know? Religious and stuff. I don’t know, I guess I’m just scared that they’re like all those people in the news. That they’ll hate me and never wanna talk to me again. And I haven’t seen my mom in… years. I have no idea how she’d react, if she’d even wanna see me in the first place.”

“Z, that sucks. I’m really sorry to hear that. Not that it ever hasn’t been like this between us but know that you can tell me anything. Literally just call me or text me and we can meet up. I swear.”

“Gene, you need to sleep.”

“Eh, I almost never do.”

“That’s why I’m saying you need to.”

“Whatever.” Gene looks up into the mechanical parts of the wheel, and into the gaps of sky peeking through. “I’m turning 17 tomorrow. Fuck…”

“Nervous?”

“No… I don’t know? I guess it just feels like everything’s ahead of me and like I can’t do anything all at the same time. Just college and jobs and the future but I just wanna make music with my friends and hang out at Wonder Wharf with y—everyone.”

“I get that. None of my friends from high school left. I guess I didn’t really miss out on anything. But I gotta say, the six months before grad are… rough. You think nothing’s gonna work out and everything’s gonna go wrong. No matter what you choose, it feels like a mistake. Trust me, I get it.”

“I’m gonna miss this, Z. Soon you won’t have wisdom for me anymore.”

“Nah! I’ll always have something to tell you, Geebee. Don’t worry.”

“Oh, god…” The rest of the ride is in almost complete silence, though it doesn’t last for too long overall.

“Alright, kids, that’s 5 rides!” The wheel stops and Mickey pops the bar open for Gene and Zeke to get off.

“Thanks, Mick.” Gene smiles at him. “See you again next week?”

“You know it, Gene!” He clicks his tongue, pointing a finger at Gene.

“So, what next? It’s only, like, 6:40.”

“I don’t know. We’ll see each other tomorrow, I guess.” Gene desperately wants to escape Zeke’s presence to process the interaction as a whole but the thought of leaving Zeke’s side is also horrible.

“Yeah. We can call ‘er here if you want, G.”

Gene just nods. “I think so. We’ll be up pretty late tomorrow watching Banjo.” They start to head out of Wonder Wharf, back to Ocean Avenue.

“Hell yeah. Who all is coming?”

“Uh, I think just Girl With a Dream. But honestly I don’t have yeses from all of them yet anyway.”

“Cool. T-Bird gonna be there?”

“Probably. I don’t know when her classes end on Fridays but she should be kicking around.” Now on Ocean Avenue, they cross to the Bob’s Burgers side. “I can let you know later tonight if you want… just want one of your kind at my marathon?”

“My kind? The hell is that?”

“You know, old.”

“Gene, I am hardly two years older than you. I’m younger than T-Bird.”

“Well, sucks to be old, I guess.”

The two of them reach the pavement outside of Bob’s Burgers. Zeke sighs. “Guess this is it, hey?”

“Yeah…” Gene looks down at the concrete sidewalk. “Hey, I’ll call you later?”

“Sure.” Zeke smiles. He pulls Gene into him tightly for a hug. “See you tomorrow, Geebee.”

“See you, Z.”

* * *

_Papasian!_

_Stop bugging Gene about Zeke_

_Louise???_

_I didn’t even know you had my number._

_Aww just cause I never text you?_

_yeah I guess._

_Well stop bugging him or I’ll slap you_

_understood._


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Gene strides through the halls of the school, in search of one Alex Papasian. He is found at their lockers, Courtney standing beside him.

“Morning, Papasian. Can I talk to you?”

“Happy birthday, Gene.” Courtney says, sweetly.

“Oh, shit, yeah. Happy birthday, man!”

“Thank you. Can I talk to you, Papasian?”

“That’s the most horrifying thing you’ve ever said to me, why are you so calm?”

“Yeah, Gene. I’ve never seen you like this.” Courtney’s fingers are on her heart locket, opening and closing it quickly and repetitively.

“I just need to talk to him about something privately. Don’t worry, it won’t take too long.” Gene walks toward the hall’s wall, away from Courtney and the lockers, Papasian follows hesitantly.

“What?”

“Look, Alex, I really need you to stop making fun of me about Zeke. I get that it’s a joke and I get that it’s funny. But I really need you to tone it down, especially tonight.”

“Yeah, sure, Gene.” He laughs.

“Papasian, I mean it.” He is dead serious, not an ounce of humour in his tone or face. “You seriously have to lay off, it’s not funny to me or Zeke.”

“Okay.”

“Promise me.”

Papasian sighs. “Gene, I promise. I won’t make fun of you and Zeke’s relationship tonight.”

“Thanks, man.” He smiles. “I’d love to talk to you about stuff like this some time but I can’t if you’re just gonna make fun of it.”

“Yeah, I get it. And, look, I’m sorry if what I said really hurt you.”

“We should get to class.”

* * *

At lunch, the band sat together as always, at the back of the room. There was the usual chatter coming from other tables and from Rudy and Louise as they join up with the seniors at the table. Gene notices them laughing together, silently hoping that Rudy will make his move soon.

“Thank god, you guys are finally he-e-re!” Courtney pulls out a folded piece of paper from her jeans as they walk up. “I have the titles. Are you ready?”

Two lunch trays clatter to the table, the plates and forks shaking on the plastic surface as they land. “Happy birthday, Piano Man. And, uh, yeah, I guess.” Their laughing subsides as Rudy tunes into ‘business mode’.

“Thanks, Rudy.”

“Okay. So, in order of recording, we have ‘In Arms’, ‘To the Tomb’, ‘Yellowbelly’, ‘Girls’, and ‘Night Before’.” She smiles, widely. “Great, right?”

Gene hates the last title. He screws up his stomach enough to request the change he knows is right. “The last one should be ‘Ferris Wheel’. It just… it fits better.”

“You sure?” Louise raises an eyebrow. “That’s pretty specific. And has nothing to do with the song at all.”

“It’s what I wrote it about. The Ferris wheel down at Wonder Wharf. I know it isn’t, like, super clear or whatever, but that’s what it has to be to me. Ferris Wheel.”

Courtney takes a pen from behind her ear, scratching something out on the paper. “Alright, Ferris Wheel it is.” She writes Ferris Wheel beside the new scribble. “But what do we think of the rest of them?”

No one knew who wanted to speak first, the groups’ eyes slipping from one to another until everyone’s eyes were on Gene’s. “I love them. You keep doing your thing and I’ll keep doing my thing and we’ll be stars!”

“I told you he’d like ‘em, Court.” Alex pulls Courtney toward him, lightly kissing her on the temple. “God, we’re so good at this.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Papasian.” Rudy says. “We still gotta hear the EP title.”

“Oh, I was just assuming we’d go with Girl with a Dream.”

“Come on, Louise. Give me some credit! Rudester, drum roll.” Rudy taps his hands on the table, at Courtney’s request. “The name of the EP is Tired.”

“You’re gonna have to explain this one to me, Courtney.”

“Ugh, fine, Louise. It’s from the original Piano Man quote that we based our group name off of.”

“It’s catching on…” Rudy’s voice is sing-songy and far too full of hope.

“No, it isn’t.”

“Anyway, Gene said ‘I’m just a girl with a dream who got tired of hearing the word no’. And I thought that Tired was a good name for our first EP cause one, I think there’s nowhere to go but up and two, we busted our asses to get this finished. I don’t know what else we should call it.” 

“I like that.”

“Of course you do, you’re the one that said it, Gene.” Papasian, face incredulous, cuts in, turning from Courtney to Gene, on his other side.

“No, shut up. It’s a good reasoning, though. You guys, we put so much into this. We started this band, like, seven months ago and we have five songs. Total.” The looks around the table were yet uncertain. “Hell, Papasian learned to pick in that time. Lou picked up bass only like three months before that. We’ve put so much into this, we deserve to be tired and we deserve to proclaim that.”

“Isn’t it, like, kind of a bad look though? Like, it’s only our first EP and we’re already saying we’re tired?”

“We’re not only saying we’re tired cause of the EP though, Lou. We’re also tired of the shit the songs deal with.” Gene argues. “Of having to be in arms, and this idea of like a death sentence that we’re together to the tomb, and like being called a coward for our interests and just who we are as people. I’m tired of needing to explain myself and being ridiculed when I try to do so. I’m tired!” Without noticing, Gene has formed tight fists to hold all his tension.

“Wow.” Louise has become concerned with his disposition.

“Yeah, are you okay, Gene?” Papasian puts a hand on Gene’s closest forearm.

“Uh…” He looks down at his white knuckles and the folds of skin in his bent fingers. “Yeah, I mean, I don’t know. Maybe not.”

“Alright well, I guess that’s the name then.” Papasian has still not moved his hand, he rubs his thumb against Gene’s skin.

“Geez, I’ve never seen Piano Man get so worked up like this about something before.” Rudy starts eating his lunch, finally.

“Oh ho, you do not know Gene that well then.” Louise laughs, finally taking her eyes off of her brother.

“So, just the order to figure out…” Courtney redirects them, tapping through her list with the pen. “I mean, is there an order that makes sense, like, for how they were written?” Again, they all look expectantly at Gene, who writes all their songs.

“No. That’s the order I wrote them in and I guess there is kind of a progression just of how I was thinking about stuff? But other than that, no.”

“Okay, so this order. Now we just have to release it?” Courtney devolves into the biggest smile any of the others have ever seen, unable to conceal her excitement. “Right?”

“Fuck, yeah. I think so.” Papasian has been infected by Courtney’s smile and it quickly passes around the table until everyone is just excited that their work is done at least for a moment.

“Honestly, thank goodness. I was starting to think that the writing and recording and mixing and editing and re-mixing would never end. I can sleep now? That’s insane. And on my birthday, oh what did I do to deserve this?”

“You worked your ass off is what, Piano Man.”

“It’s not gonna catch on, Rudy.”

“It has to me.”

“I like it, Rudy.”

“See? Gene likes it.” Rudy elbows Louise with his free arm.

“Inexcusable. You are no brother of mine.”

“Sister? You would disown me on my own birthday?” He puts a hand up to clutch his imaginary pearls.

“Yeah.”

They complete the rest of lunch with little noteworthy conversation, until the bell rings for the next period. They collect their belongings and trays from the table and begin walking back to their lockers.

“Oh, uh, Banjo marathon at ours tonight. You down?”

“That’s so last minute. Yes.”

“Alright, Papasian’s in. So Courtney’s coming too, then. Rudester?” Rudy nods. “Okay, we’ll meet up after school and head to our place?”

“Sounds good, Piano Man.” The tenth graders begin to leave, heading in a separate direction from the others.

Gene turns to Alex and Courtney. “So, you guys wanna cut? I mean, I have a free period before English, so I’m probably gonna grab coffee and stuff anyway. And then, at that point we might as well just skip class, too.”

“Uh, yeah. Sure.”

“Yeah, I’m down. I’ll buy yours, Gene.”

“What the hell? I’m literally your boyfriend, Courtney. We’ve been dating for, like, a year.” Papasian stops in his tracks, the other two getting a few steps ahead of him.

“And? It’s not your birthday.” She looks back at him over her shoulder, not even turning around to look at him dead on.

“Thanks, Court. You really don’t have to, though.”

“Nah, c’mon.” She waves her hand, signalling him to come with her.

The trio heads to a close coffee shop, where one barista recognizes them by their orders and their names. The rest of the school day is a blur of jokes and comments and half-heartedly working out EP details.

* * *

When school is finally over, they head to the Belcher’s, having joined up with Rudy and Louise. Excused from restaurant duties for the day, they head upstairs to begin the real celebration. They play Cards Against Humanity around the coffee table just to kill time, yelling answers and questions and laughing uproariously.

Gene realizes, a few rounds in, that he hasn’t checked his phone at all since lunch, suddenly nervous that Zeke sent him something that he didn’t respond to. He pulls it out of his back pocket, seeing notifications from people wishing him a happy birthday on Facebook or texting him directly. But none from Zeke. _I’ll see him in 2 and a half hours._ He tries to reason with himself but there is an anxiety building up that no words had been exchanged between them all day. Gene thinks he is totally subtle about both checking his phone and the sudden panic.

Louise immediately notices. “Hey, bro, when’s Zeke coming?”

“Uh, 6, after his shift is over.” He turns his phone off, putting it back in his pocket. “Oh, shit, is it my turn?”

“Yeah, man, we’ve been waiting for you to read the white cards.” Papasian says, throwing his white card down.

“Waiting? You just put yours down!”

“And?”

The game continues, Papasian loses that round, and then it’s 6:00.

* * *

The doorbell rings. “I’ll get it.” Gene says too quickly as he rises from the floor. A chorus of “of course”s follows, the loudest from Louise and Papasian. Ignoring this, Gene hurries down the stairs and opens the door to Zeke holding three boxes of pizza from Jimmy Pesto’s.

“Hey.”

“Happy birthday.”

“You remembered.” Gene puts a hand up to his sternum, smiling.

Zeke bursts out laughing, his face lighting up and turning red. “Damn it, girl. And I said you didn’t play along.”

“I know. How wrong you were.” He smiles and moves out of the way to allow Zeke space to get inside the apartment. “Let’s go up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one feels like filler I'm sorry, I really wanted to get further into it but it was already almost 1900 words. <3


	5. Chapter 5

The group, having grown to 6, demolishes the pizzas almost too quickly and the Banjo opening begins to play for the first time of the night. As a whole, they had rearranged from their card set-up and positioning. Louise is now in the chair closest to the windows holding a large mixing bowl of popcorn, the couch is taken up by Alex, Gene, and Zeke who share a bowl, and Courtney and Rudy are already in their sleeping bags on the floor with a stray, untouched bowl between them.

“Gene, are we really starting with _G Chord at High Noon_? Come on.” Louise rolls her eyes, throwing popcorn into her mouth haphazardly.

“Yes. We have to. It’s basically Banjo’s origin story, Louise.”

“I understand that it’s your birthday and I have to respect your wishes, but I dislike this decision. I won’t lie.”

“Come on, Louise. It can’t be that bad.” Rudy wheezes from his makeshift bed on the floor, the polyester exterior rubbing irritatingly against itself as he moves.

“Have I seen this one, G?”

“Mm,” Gene swallows his mouthful of popcorn. “I don’t think so, Zeke. It’s honestly pretty skippable—” his eyes dart over to Louise who has turned to look at him with incredulity “but this is a marathon. So we start at the start.”

“We’re not even gonna get through all of them. There are like 20.”

“18. But, yeah, we’ll probably get 6 in at most.”

“Gene, I hate to side with Louise—you know that—but she may have a point. Why wouldn’t we just watch the highlights?” Papasian reaches to grab a handful of popcorn from the bowl on Gene’s lap.

“Maybe I wanted to. I haven’t seen the first few in a while. It’s my birthday. Let me have this.” He turns his attention back toward the glow of the TV.

“Wait is this gonna be the kind of movie watch where we can’t talk?”

“Heckle away, Courtney.” Louise smiles in her corner of the room.

“Okay great cause I feel like I never know what’s going on in movies. I don’t know why.”

Zeke and Gene breathily snicker to themselves, making eye contact. Gene quickly breaks away from it, slightly moving his body away from the other’s, feeling Papasian watching them from behind his back. He snaps his head back to the TV again, seeing the glint from Alex’s glasses facing him in his peripherals, as well as a slight expression—confused? hurt?—on Zeke’s face.

The faint glow of a phone on low brightness becomes visible on the right side of Gene’s vision as Papasian types something out on his messaging app. _Probably to his mom,_ Gene thinks; she has not become less overbearing since sixth grade and the addition of a phone has only made it easier for her to keep tabs on him. Gene’s phone vibrates in his hoodie pocket.

_I said I wouldn’t bother you about Zeke but don’t make fun of my gf when I’m literally sitting right beside you_

Gene sighs and turns to meet Alex’s eyes. His face is set in a stern expression, his jaw clenched. He turns his attention back to his phone.

_Dude. Really?_

_I’m laying off. Please don’t make me start shit._

_Don’t do this today._

_Truly don’t make me._

Gene shoves his phone back in his pocket, making eye contact with Alex again. They nod to each other, neither fully happy with the agreement and the things left unsaid.

Louise catches this interaction as she watches Courtney’s confusion at the movie’s opening scene, and makes stern eye contact with Papasian before he quickly backs off, sheepishly turning his attention back to the movie. She reaches for her phone—on the end table, next to Zeke’s—before thinking better of it, and turning back to Courtney and her bowl of popcorn.

* * *

Half an hour into the first Banjo movie, the group can hear a quiet rattling of keys in the front door downstairs. It creaks open and steps carry up to the second floor before Tina enters the room. “What are you guys watching?”

“F Chord at 10AM.” Louise deadpans, not looking up from the popcorn bowl as she separates un-popped kernels and tiny pieces of popped corn. Gene glances over to her, staring daggers for several seconds, despite no reaction.

“Oh, you’re just on the first one? It’s 7:00.”

“Yup. But God forbid we just watch the highlights, Tina. Are you crazy?” She turns her attention to Gene who has lost interest in staring daggers. “That would be too entertaining.”

“I’ll join you if that’s all right.”

“Of course, T.” Gene looks up, seeing her with a backpack and laptop bag slung over her shoulders, and a fleece coat folded over her forearm.

“I’m just gonna go put some stuff away first.” She leaves the room and returns a couple minutes later, having changed into pajama-aligned clothes—sweatpants and a t-shirt—and holding a dining chair carried from the kitchen. “What have I missed?”

“You’ve literally seen this before, T.”

“It’s been a while.” Gene starts catching her up, hurriedly, before she cuts him off. “Wait, it’s also been a while since I saw you, Zeke. How are you? Jimmy’s been telling me some things but only bits and pieces.”

Gene—deflated—turns back to the popcorn bowl in his hands.

“You’re hanging out again? Damn, T-Bird, you just keep going back to him.” Zeke jokes, picking up his phone with a hand. “I’m working at Pesto’s, um, I’m in a two-year culinary program in Bog Harbour that I’m gonna be finishing up in April. I’m really excited.” He shies away from talking about something he loves, quickly changing the subject. Gene’s eyes dart to his once he realizes this tension though Zeke fails to return the look. “What are you up to? J-Ju tells me… business? Right?”

“Yeah, um, just at the local college. It’s kind of a business management focused program.” She shyly answers, ashamed as well of her passion and ambitions. “So, what are your plans after graduation?”

“I want to be a head chef, maybe I wanna open a restaurant. I don’t know. You?”

“I’m still going to help out at the restaurant but I’ll probably get a day job, as well.” She feels her heartbeat in the back of her throat, suddenly nervous for a future that is two and a half years away.

“It’s crazy—” Zeke interrupts “—talking to J-Ju. Seems like he’s got it all figured out. He’s lucky. Knows what he wants to do.” He pulls his phone out and navigates to messages. Gene peers casually over his shoulder, watching him find his ongoing conversation with “J-Ju” but looking away before he types anything.

Conversation somewhat dies out after that, aside from snide remarks and commentary on the movies themselves. And the next time Gene processes the time, it’s 2 AM and he’s putting in the sixth movie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that this took months! life kinda caught up with me and now school's started again but I'm gonna try to still post chapters sometimes but I know that I really can't stick to a schedule so I'm sorry :(


	6. Chapter 6

Gene puts in the sixth movie in the Banjo franchise, checking his phone as he sits back down, only half awake. The movie—having no main menu page—starts playing before he even has a chance to turn the volume down so as to not wake any of the others sleeping in the room. Louise and Tina are long gone, having left for their rooms after the fourth movie, around 12:30; though the others are still in the living room, sleeping in the faint blue glow of the TV. Papasian joined Courtney and Rudy on the floor during the third movie, half asleep and complaining about the noise until he fell asleep at a reasonable 11:30.

Settling back on the couch, Gene notices Zeke reacting gently to the movement of their shared seating. At some point Gene had gotten a couple blankets for the two of them, Zeke’s now pulled fully into his hands, covering almost none of his body.

“Hey, Zeke?” He half-whispers. “Are you awake?”

“No.” His voice is quiet and slurred but he turns to look at Gene, eyes half-open. “Are you?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll keep you company.” He sits up, blinking the drowsiness out of his eyes to some success. “What do you wanna do, Geebee?”

“We could play truth or dare.” He blushes, realizing the request he just made. “We don’t have to but—”

“It’s better than nothing.” Zeke sighs. “Truth or dare?”

He hesitates. “Truth.”

“Do you see yourself getting married.”

“Depends on who I date. Like, I don’t know if I want to but I don’t… not want to.”

“Huh.” It almost sounds like a breathy laugh the way he says it, eyes closed as if he’s imagining something. He looks kind of beautiful from this angle—in profile, his face blue from the TV and pale against the night sky in the windows.

“Truth or dare?”

“Truth.” He says it quickly, succinctly, as if he’s waiting to answer one specific question, if only Gene would just ask it.

“Do you know anyone—right now—that you’d want to date if they asked you?”

“Yeah.” He hides a smile but not well enough, Gene sees it. Zeke turns in his blanket, now sitting cross-legged on the couch, facing Gene.

“Who is it?”

“Isn’t it my turn?” The look on his face is pure mischief, smile as wide as the sea. He moves closer to Gene, their cross-legged knees touching.

“I just wanted to know.” Gene feels the anxiety bubble up in his chest, somewhere behind his heart.

“No fair, Geebee, it’s my turn.” His expression is so close to full laughter, Zeke almost giddy with excitement over his next question. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“What would you do…” His breathing is heavy and laboured. “What would you do if I kissed you?”

Their eyes lock for too long, Gene trying to read any humour in Zeke’s eyes, before realizing that he still hasn’t answered. “I’d kiss you back.” Gene blinks, the air in his lungs becoming heavy. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

“I dare you to kiss me.”

Zeke leans in, his lips grazing Gene’s at first—still uncertain of the action—before Gene kisses him back, just as he said he would. They close their eyes, leaning into the kiss, weeks of hanging out at Wonder Wharf melting away, leading up to this moment when things are no longer left unsaid and everything is on the table. For now, at least, there is nothing more to say than “I’d kiss you back” again and again until morning.

They sit there, in each other’s arms, cuddling or kissing periodically, for the remainder of the movie. They fall asleep just like that, on each other, under their two blankets, in the dim glow of the DVD screen saver and, for once, they have said everything to each other. Quietly, in the back of his head, Gene hopes that he wakes first for many reasons. First, he is embarrassed at liking Zeke and Papasian being right. Second, he is unwilling and not wanting to tell his parents about himself in this way. And most importantly, if all else goes wrong, he wants—just once—to see Zeke asleep, dark lashes brushing the tops of his cheeks, sleep still heavy behind his eyes, peaceful and entirely himself without hiding anything behind a façade. Gene hopes he wakes up first but for now, he just sleeps.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (this chapter, unlike the rest of the fic so far, is from Zeke's POV instead of Gene's)

Gene always did this thing when he wanted to show Zeke a song. He’d text him and ask if Zeke wanted to meet up, as if he didn’t care if they talked at all that day, as if Zeke’s opinion didn’t matter. He knew it did. And he was careful not to overstep that line, knowing Gene wanted it to look like he didn’t care.

(They were good friends, having hung out on a number of occasions since middle school, in increasing frequency since Gene and Tina became closer and Tina and J-Ju started going out. Their unofficial “double dates” often ended up with Gene and Zeke splintering off to Family Funtime or Wonder Wharf while the actual couple made out or talked about the future or whatever. They became really close over this time, Gene often showing Zeke songs he liked and—eventually—his own music or remixes.

Zeke really valued that time with Gene though he never said it in so many words to him. And he thought he probably never would.

But then it started to seem like Gene valued their time together as much as Zeke did. It all started to feel realer, more valid, more plausible. Zeke had known for some time that he like-liked Gene and there was something about the way that Gene acted on these outings, even after Tina and J-Ju had broken up, that made him feel like Gene was maybe starting to like-like Zeke back. Zeke had never outwardly been like-liked before to his knowledge, and something about Gene—his first crush in years—made him feel like he had a real future where he could have kids and a house and that cozy, snuggly feeling with movie nights and popcorn. Like there was some version of himself out there that could buy a juicer for Sunday morning brunches at home.)

The other thing he always did was make sure the song length was under the total time it took for one ride of the Ferris Wheel. They always bought two rounds, but they spent the second just talking about music or lyrics or whatever.

* * *

Zeke had this whole big plan for Gene’s 17th birthday. Well, maybe “big plan” wasn’t exactly the phrase for it but he wanted to go to the Wharf and play some of those shitty carnival games and win him those big bears and take some Polaroids and ride the Ferris Wheel for two rounds and on that ride, he’d tell him. He wanted to tell him. Every day they spoke he wanted to tell him but it always seemed like the wrong time.

And he was going to tell him on the second round of the Ferris Wheel. It wouldn’t matter if he confessed back or whatever but at least it would be out there. No pressure to start anything as long as the friendship wasn’t sacrificed because—even without the romantic component—it was the most meaningful relationship in Zeke’s life.

Then came the text. He was on lunch break from the kitchen.

_Banjo. All night. My place._

Not precisely the plan.

_I’m in, man!_

_who else is coming?_

“Play it cool, Zeke.”

_Haven’t invited anyone else yet, do you want me to?_

_just us would be good too_

Then radio silence about the get together. Of course, Zeke could always tell him tonight, at the Wharf, after Gene shows him the new song. But maybe that would be weird… the day _before_ his birthday, when he just wants to talk about his music.

Maybe Zeke was overthinking this, maybe it would all turn out okay.

* * *

The night of Gene’s birthday and Zeke hasn’t told Gene anything, but has prepared for the worst. The worst being Papasian, Courtney, Rudy, Louise, and Tina being at the Banjo marathon. Which is not really “the worst” as much as it is a minor obstacle. They always slept a lot more than Gene and Zeke anyway, and luckily they’d gone to sleep much sooner than the two of them. At 12:30, they are the only ones awake.

“Hey, Zeke? Are you awake?”

Zeke is, admittedly, half asleep. “No… Are you?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll keep you company.” He sits up and looks at Gene. All the lights are off by this point but the blue glow of the TV keeps Gene visible enough for Zeke to have to supress a smile. “What do you wanna do, Geebee?”

“We could play truth or dare. We don’t have to but—”

“It’s better than nothing.” Zeke hopes his blush isn’t visible in this low lighting. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“Do you see yourself getting married.” Zeke bites back the hopefulness in his voice.

“Depends on who I date.” He finishes. “Like, I don’t know if I _want_ to but I don’t _not_ want to.” He says quickly—does this mean he’d want to date Zeke? Marry Zeke?

“Huh.” He laughs lightly, quietly.

“Truth or dare?”

“Truth.” Already, he can tell there was too much desperation in his voice. Part of him regrets it immediately.

“Do you know anyone—right now—that you’d want to date if they asked you?” There it is.

“Yeah.” He tries to hide a smile and turns to sit cross-legged on the couch.

“Who is it?”

“Isn’t it my turn?” He doesn’t hide his smile anymore as he moves closer to Gene, letting their knees touch. Their faces are so close together, Gene has to actively resist pressing more skin contact.

“I just wanted to know.”

“No fair, Geebee, it’s my turn.” His smile is so wide, so close to pure cackling. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

Zeke hesitates, feeling something bubble up inside his stomach and lungs. “What would you do…” He swallows, trying in vain to calm his nerves. “What would you do if I kissed you?”

Zeke searches Gene’s eyes for confusion or hurt or anything that could betray his emotions. There is nothing, they were blank. Maybe Gene is concealing more than Zene thinks he is.

“I’d kiss you back. Truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

Gene’s face breaks into a humorous smile. “I dare you to kiss me.”

Zeke leans in, without certainty but also without hesitation. His lips graze Gene’s, still dubious of the context and consent in which this kiss is taking place. Gene kisses him back with full intensity, just as he said he would, pulling Zeke in with one hand on his neck. They both close their eyes, letting the kiss and each other’s warmth spread through them. Every song that Gene ever played for Zeke plays in his head, remembering those sunsets that could have been on the Ferris Wheel. Everything feels on the table, there is so much potential for them in this moment. All Zeke hears is that music and Gene saying, again and again “I’d kiss you back”.

Gene curls himself into Zeke’s arms, periodically pulling his face down for a kiss for the remainder of this movie. The fall asleep still nestled up, the DVD screen saver glowing over them for the remainder of the night, everything that needed saying having been said.

When Zeke awakes, Gene is gone, but there is the smell of bacon and French toast cooking in the kitchen and the sound of idle chatter from Gene’s family.


	8. Chapter 8

Gene awakens. With his eyes still closed he can feel that he remains on the couch, cuddling Zeke, he can hear the gentle snoring of at least one of his parents still asleep in their room. _It must be early._ He stiffens his body, prepared for any response to the sight, and then opens his eyes. It’s still dark out—it _is_ early, before 8 at least.

A million things run through Gene’s head: _what if someone sees us?_ , _what time is it?_ , _oh god, my parents will be awake soon_ , _Zeke’s shoulder is a very comfortable pillow_ , _what if I just stay here?_ , _what’s the worst that could happen?_ , _what time is it?_ , _where do we go from here?_ , _does he even like me?_ , _what if someone sees us?_.

Peeling himself away from Zeke, he surveys the room. Everyone is still asleep, the only sounds the others’ heavy, drowsy breathing. He gets up and checks the alarm clock in his room… 6:00. Robotically, Gene heads for the bathroom to brush his teeth and pee; the morning routine.

It takes until he’s spitting the foamy toothpaste out for him to recognize the butterflies still flapping their wings in his stomach. _What if he doesn’t like me like that, this morning, not at 2AM?_ His stomach drops as he looks himself in the eyes in the mirror before closely studying his face and its flaws. “What if he hates me when it’s 8AM?”

A quiet knock at the door. The pattern Linda always taps in the morning, waiting for access to the household’s only washroom.

“Gene? Hurry up in there.”

“Yeah, Mom. I’ll just be a second.” He sighs, rinsing the toothpaste down the sink, and he opens the door, humourlessly. “She’s all yours.”

* * *

For the next hour or so, Gene lays on his bed. The door is closed, his eyes are open, and he stares at the popcorn ceiling above him. For that time, he just thinks. About Zeke, about himself, and about Zeke and himself. Over the hour, the butterflies are replaced by a thick, molasses-like sickness building up—a feeling of regret. What if things never go back to the way they were before and what if they can’t be better now?

These thoughts are interrupted by another knock at a different door. This time, Linda’s taps are louder and more frantic. “Gene, Alex is up. Come keep him company while your father makes breakfast.”

Gene gets up again. His movements careful, anxious, slowed. Papasian has transplanted himself to the kitchen where he’s idly talking to Rudy and Louise, who looks as if she was not-so-graciously awoken by Linda.

“Hey, Piano Man!”

“Morning, guys. Rudester.” Gene yawns, taking a seat at the kitchen table along with the others.

“What time did you end up falling asleep anyway?” Papasian laughs while bringing a glass of orange juice to his mouth for a sip.

“Uh… I don’t know, like, 2? No… 3? I don’t know.”

“Jeez, Gene!” Louise has woken from her waking slumber. “For Banjo!? You were up that late for those stupid cowboy movies??”

“Yeah? I guess?” He laughs.

“That’s… not good, Gene. That’s really late.” Bob’s voice carries over the crackling sound of pancakes and meat and oil in hot pans.

“Yeah. It’s a good thing it’s not a school night, mister, or you’d be in big trouble.” Linda pours him a glass of orange juice from a plastic pitcher with a fruit design on it.

“Alright.” Is all he says, though he stays up that late on many school nights to finish mixes for Girl With a Dream anyway. “What’s breakfast?”

“Pancakes and bacon.” Bob replies without looking up.

“Oh, father, I love you.” Gene sips on the juice, momentarily questioning whether or not he’ll be able to keep anything down with his thick nausea churning in his stomach. “You’re the best father, father.”

“You’re welcome, Gene.” Some of the weight in his shoulders lifted, his posture relaxing slightly. “What movie did you get to at 2 or 3 AM anyway?”

“Uh, _Hang to Dry_ I think. I don’t know, we got pretty far, considering.”

“That’s, uh, that’s impressive, Gene. Was anyone else awake?”

“Yeah, just Zeke and me.”

“Makes sense why he’s still sleeping then.” Linda chimes in as Courtney enters the room and sits in the remaining chair from the proper table set that matches.

“Yeah, why were you up so early, Gene?” Louise’s glass is three quarters empty at this point, and she speaks between sips.

“I don’t know, just a lot of light in the room I guess?” Gene is looking at Linda as she sits down at the table, not in her regular spot, but on one of the mismatched chairs pulled from a back closet.

“Uh-huh, sure. Even though it’s late fall and it doesn’t get light out until like 8 AM?”

“…Yeah. I’m really light-sensitive. I don’t talk about it a lot, it’s okay that you don’t know that.” Gene makes direct eye contact with Louise and gulps some juice.

“Uh-huh. Sure.”

“Where did you sleep, Gene? You got up before me, obviously, but pretty much all the space in the living room was taken up.” Papasian cuts in. Suspicious isn’t the word for how his voice sounded, more like cautiously implicative without trying to give too much away to Bob and Linda.

“Oh, I, uh, just slept in my room. Didn’t want to be in the way.”

“Huh, okay. I just thought I saw you when I woke up earlier in the night but I guess I was wrong.”

“I guess.” Gene takes his phone out of his hoodie pocket. _Dude, back off._

Papasian looks at his phone then up at Gene, lightly nodding his head to the side as a sign of frustrated acceptance.

“Alright. Good enough for me.”

Gene tunes out of the conversation at this point, annoyed and nervous about everything that has happened since the night before. The others laugh and chat around him, now joined by Courtney and Bob eventually puts a serving plate of pancakes and bacon on the table just as Zeke enters the room, taking the final chair at the table. His eyes are trained on Gene’s as he enters and sits.

Gene’s eyes immediately flash up to meet Zeke’s and he smiles sheepishly. “Morning.”

“Mornin’, Geebee.” Zeke returns the smile as Linda pours him a glass of juice.

Breakfast is quiet—the symbol of a good meal—and Gene experiences it in careful, quick glances and looking away as a smile appears. Silently, he knows that Alex and Louise at the very least notice these glances and smiles. Gene knows that they will not let him forget this moment, though he doesn’t even really know what this moment is.

“So, Zeke.” Bob breaks the silence. “What did you think of _Banjo_?”

“Uh, I really liked ‘em, Mr. B. I’ve seen a couple of ‘em before but it’s definitely better seeing ‘em in order, all at once.”

“ _Hang to Dry_ , am I right?”

“Heh heh, yeah. That’s a good ‘un.” He puts the last of his pancake in his mouth, likely to avoid continuing this conversation.

The remainder of breakfast returns to silence save generic chewing noises.

And then Mrs. Papasian shows up to drive Alex and Courtney home, around 10AM. And soon after, Louise and Rudy peel off to go to Family Fun time and play Skee Bowl for a while, around the same time that Bob and Linda go downstairs to open the restaurant with a general “Louise, be back before the dinner rush, Gene, you too.”

Leaving Zeke and Gene alone in the apartment.

“So… what do you wanna do? I don’t work ‘til 1 so I can stay a bit—if you’re okay with that. I wouldn’t want to… assume… anything.”

“Uh, I don’t know. We can watch something or something?”

“Fine, but no Banjo.”

Gene feigns an exasperated sigh. “Fine.”


	9. Chapter 9

Gene and Zeke watch whatever is on that’s a comedy, some garbage family sitcom set in suburbia, the former sitting on what is normally “Louise’s chair” closest to the window. They both scroll through Twitter/Instagram/Facebook on their phones, the volume turned down enough to ignore. Zeke steals glances at Gene periodically throughout the hours that they are sitting there, mostly wordless, until finally he catches Gene’s eye.

“Geeb, I think we should talk about what happened yesterday.” Gene doesn’t even think before responding.

“What do you mean? We watched Banjo.”

“I mean after everyone else was asleep. When we were playing truth or dare.” Zeke swallows. “When we… kissed.”

“What’s there to talk about?” Gene avoids eye contact but glances out of the corner of his eye at Zeke on the couch. “It was a dare.”

“No it wasn’t.”

“It was, too.”

“Barely. Gene, why don’t you wanna talk about this? We both felt somethin’, I know it.”

“It was a game, Zeke.”

Zeke moves so that Gene cannot avoid eye contact and waits for Gene to turn his head. “’What would you do if I kissed you’, ‘kiss you back’, and then we kissed. It wasn’t a game, Gene. Why are you running from this?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to stop being friends because of a dumb kiss, Zeke.”

“Are you saying it was a mistake? That you—that you regret it?”

“I don’t know, maybe. Do you?”

“No. It was a long time comin’ far as I’m concerned, Geeb. What didja think all those Ferris wheels were about?”

“I thought we were friends.” He breaks eye contact again.

“We are friends but I want—”

“More?”

Zeke shrugs. “Yeah, maybe. Do you not?”

“I don’t know, Zeke!” Gene turns back to Zeke and looks ready to pounce as he yells this. “Look, it’s almost 1, maybe you should just go.”

“Fine. But this conversation isn’t done.”

“Fine.”

* * *

_fuck._

_what?_

_what happened Gene?_

_I don’t know._

_don’t want receipts, can we meet up?_

_the wharf?_

_I was at ur house like 3 hrs ago :/_

_please_

_omw_

* * *

“Woah. So, do you—?” Papasian says between handfuls of popcorn.

“Yeah, I like him. But I don’t know what’s next, you know?”

“I mean, no? It’s not the same I don’t think. Being with Courtney seemed so natural, so next step. Like, we were just there, on the same page. I know this isn’t helpful, but I think you need to be on the same page for anything to work.”

“Yeah… I haven’t been in a relationship. Ever.” Gene takes a sip of soda.

“Unless you count Court.”

“And I don’t.” He smiles, looking out at the water.

“Yeah.” Papasian follows suit. “Do you want to…have…more with him?”

“Yes. I think so. I really like him and I hate to think I could lose him. I really enjoy spending time with him, you know?”

“Yeah. Then I think you tell him that—all of that. And if he doesn’t like it or doesn’t agree then that’s that and you stay friends. If he agrees then great.”

“Fuck, it’s gonna be so awkward.”

Alex laughs breathily. “Why?”

“He dated Tina for a bit, years ago.”

“Oh, yeah. Didn’t they, like, go to a dance together?”

“There is, indeed, photographic evidence. I’m sure she’s over it. They’re not super… close anymore anyway.”

“It’ll be fine, Gene.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Gene ignores him for a minute, blinding himself with the glinting of the sun on the peaks of roiling waves.

“Why didn’t you talk to Louise about this? Or Tina?”

“I need an exterior opinion, someone who isn’t involved in this. Who won’t be overprotective of me and try to take my feelings away and ignore it. I can’t do it anymore. Ignoring it isn’t going to change how I feel and I should have talked to Zeke about this ages ago.”

“Maybe.” Papasian scrunches his face to the side, thinking. “But what’s done is done. Can’t change your choices anymore.”

“I should talk to him.” Gene leaves space for silence, lets himself breathe for a couple seconds. “Hey,” he turns to Alex “his shift isn’t over until, like… 8, you wanna hang out?”

“I shouldn’t but yeah. Just hang out at the wharf or…?”

“Or Family Funtime? Louise is there if you wanted to meet up with her and the Rudester.”

“Oh, yeah, sure, whatever. Family Funtime is good. I’ll beat your ass at air hockey.”

“Wanna bet?”

“10 bucks says I'll beat you.”

The boys meet up with Rudy and Louise, and play every possible four player game in the place, and Alex manages to destroy Gene at air hockey three times before Gene gives up and also fails to beat Rudy and then Louise.

* * *

_we need to talk, can we meet up?_

And then, hours later:

_Zeke, I’m sorry. I really need to tell you something._

_can we meet up after your shift?_

Again, after no response:

_Zeke, I know you don’t want to talk to me right now but I really need to talk to you._

_I have something important to tell you and it can’t be done over text._

_Please, just respond._

Gene overthinks every text and every pause between texts, imagining how each letter and word and sentence could be misconstrued, hoping he hasn’t royally fucked up everything he had with Zeke in the first, platonic, place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a while since the last update, very sorry. It's kinda hard writing this for me when my interest in the show fluctuates. I haven't really watched it in a while so I'm sorry if the sporadic nature of updates bothers you, I promise I'm doing my best :/


	10. Chapter 10

The morning bell rings. “Did he text you back, Gene?”

“No.” Gene bites back a grimace. “I, uh, sat at the window waited for him. All night. Never showed. He must have stayed with JJ.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Ignore it? Accept that I’ve fucked up whatever friendship I had with him and leave it there. I don’t think he’d want me to talk to him again and I don’t blame him. I just wish he’d give me a shot to explain myself, you know?”

“Well, it took me a long time to tell Alex I like-liked him back. And we turned out okay. If he’s really worth it, he’ll understand, Gene.” Courtney squeezes Alex’s hand, subtly enough so as not to make Gene feel bad for not having Zeke right now in this moment.

“Courtney’s right. And not just ‘cause I’m biased, Gene. It’ll work out, I promise. And even if you guys don’t get together, it’ll be for the best.”

“Thanks, guys.” Nothing about Gene’s mood was improved by this conversation but still, just the idea that his friends were there for him gave way to a glint of hope for the future.

* * *

Gene anxiously put together a playlist that week, for Zeke. It said everything he wanted to say to him, in its words and music. In the morning, he texted Zeke. The text was a long shot in the first place, even more so because the two hadn’t spoken or texted or exchanged memes in five days.

_hey._

_I miss you. if you’re okay to talk, meet me at the usual time and place tonight._

That evening, Gene waits, looking at Jimmy Pesto’s from the upstairs windows around 6:00, just in case. He doesn’t know what shift Zeke is on but what if it was an earlier shift and he missed him because he didn’t come until later. And he sits there, waiting to see the man’s bandana and buzzcut and cut-off tee come out of the restaurant.

He gives up on this hope at 7:30 but stays sitting there, without distraction.

* * *

_Yeah, sorry. Work was busy._

_See you soon._

“Fuck… fuck…” Gene glances at the time on his phone. 8:20. “I didn’t think… fuck…” He quickly throws on a zip-up hoodie and his denim jacket and pulls on some boots. Stumbling down the stairs and out the door, he crosses the street without caution as Zeke leaves the restaurant.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Gene sighs, keeping his distance. “Ferris wheel?”

“Uh… we’ll see. I got some things to say, too, Gene.” Zeke’s breath forms small clouds in the cool evening air.

“Sure. Yeah, sorry, I—I was just think—I didn’t think that—”

“No worries. It’s okay.” They start walking toward the wharf. “Are you ready to talk about it, Gene?”

“Yeah. I thought a lot about it.” Gene looks at Zeke. “I know it’s frustrating, the way I reacted. And I know my explanation only gets me so far and that isn’t very far in the first place. I think I just got spooked and didn’t really have any time to process it before we were talking about things and making a decision.”

“Yeah. I get it, Gene. I’ve been in one or two relationships before, depending on how you count ‘em. I honestly don’t really count either but… I get it.” Zeke glances out of the corner of his eye at Gene. “You’d rather just stay friends, you don’t wanna ruin things. That’s fine. I don’t want to ruin things either. You’re important to me and I would rather not lose you. You clearly don’t feel the same way as I do, right?”

“Okay?”

“So, let’s just stay friends.” Zeke looks to Gene with a small smile.

Gene opens his mouth to say something. _No, that isn’t at all what I wanted. Zeke, please just listen to me, I want to date you. Please hear me. There’s so much more to say that I’m not getting the chance to say. Please, please, please don’t let this end here. Zeke, please._

He smiles back and nods. “Friends.”

“So, did you still want to go on the Ferris wheel?”

“Uh, no, I, uh… I’ve got some homework that’s due tomorrow. Gotta get that done. I’ll, uh, see you soon though.” It takes every fibre of Gene’s being for his voice not to crack. He swiftly turns and walks away from Zeke, trying to force himself not to cry the whole way home until he breaks down just after closing the door.

Sitting on the floor of the entry to the Belcher residence, Gene sobs as quietly as he can until he can manage his way up to his room where he lies for the remainder of the night. Wide awake.


End file.
